Storage with access to stored items is often at a premium around the home, garage or shop. In attempts to address this and other concerns, in general, various provisions have been made in various fields of endeavor, among which are noted the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 29,151 to Ferguson for a clothes frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 40,088 to Bacon for a card rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 183,793 to Buffington for desks.
U.S. Pat. No. 649,648 to Splivalo for a drying apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 719,625 to Throm for a shelf attachment for desks.
U.S. Pat. No. 952,603 to Carroll for a display rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,974,272 to Heineman for a spindleless display device.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,044 to Michelet for a combination kitchen equipment cabinet.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,414,752 to Mabie for a wall support with pivoted racks.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,955,892 to Pulaski et al. for a swing-out refrigerator shelf assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,976,101 to Rooney for drop guards for refrigerator door shelves.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,602 to Golenpaul for a cabinet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,133 to Schauer for a pivotally and vertically movable shelf structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,742 to Neff for a storage unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,231 to Johnson for a shelf apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,080 to Madimenos et al. for a free standing work station.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,033 to Calleja for a warehouse displayer panel system and hinge.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,332 B1 to Caldwell, Jr. et al. for a file cabinet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,905 B2 to Chen for a supporting frame with a casing. Publication No. US 2007/0085456 A1 of Farrens for a display cabinet.
Publication No. US 2007/0159041 of Lucas et al. for means for providing adjustment to bins and shelves in refrigerators.
The InvisiVault® in-wall safe/utility cabinet, which pivotally mounts over a wall opening.
Miscellaneous wall racks, which are mounted on walls.
As well, open storage racks such as those hand built from wood and those purchased and assembled, to include those with metal or plastic frame supports, are popular options in storage.
Other art is known to exist from additional searching by or on behalf of Trident Design, L.L.C. Identified in addition to Neff, which is cited above, are the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,954 to Nix for a telephone directory binder support and storage apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,360 to Cheng for a multi-level rotational shelf structure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,772 B2 to Gerkey et al. for a rotatable shelf.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,659 B1 to Yoon et al. for a space-saving mounting fixture for use with an equipment rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,061,536 B2 to Lin et al. for a tool box fastening device for fastening a tool box set to a vertical wall.
Publication No. US 2003/0042830 A1 of Gregorio for a pivoting television support shelf.
Publication No. US 2004/0061298 A1 of Sandoval for a tool caddy.
Publication No. US 2005/0211742 A1 of Mapes et al. for a post-mounted storage caddy.
Publication No. US 2010/0193456 A1 of Polizzi et al. for a pivoting shelf assembly.
Publication No. EP 1 220 224 A3 (with search report) of Erickson et al. (Gateway, Inc.) for a hinged mounting for multiple storage drives.
Its A2 publication and U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,875 B1 correspond. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,172 B2, a continuation of the '875 patent.
Of the foregoing, it was expressed that Neff, Cheng and Yoon et al. were most relevant. However that may be, in addition, various aftermarket, adjustable storage, and related products were identified as being in the market:
A. Garage/industrial products: Racor hanger; GoRhino carrier; Facom pivoting shelf; Displays 2 Go baker's rack; Gratnell's mobile adjustable shelving; $1199.99 Swivel Storage Products cabinet; IAC Industrial D4 rolling cart; Lista equipment shelf; Nomad 4 browser; storage doors.
B. Household accessories: Lynk over-cabinet-door organizer; Umbra jewelry box; Moen shower caddy; modular shower station; Cabidor behind door storage; Rev-a-Shelf shelving; Imeca D-shaped lazy Susan; Brookhaven swing-out spice rack; hinge-mounted cabinet hinge; hinged, wall-mount storage cabinets; swiveling pantry storage; art cabinet.
C. Stock shelving: Blue Hawk shelf; HDX shelving; EnviroElements shelving; Style Selections shelving; Edsel shelf; Gladiator shelf.
D. Inspiration category: BLine Spinny drawers; Alog modular shelving system; articulated bookshelf; Basso shelf; BrickBox furniture; spindle storage box.
Other art, cited during prosecution of the parent in addition to citations duplicated from those set forth above, includes the following citations:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,104,939 to Whalen for a refrigerator shelf.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,116,564 to D'Olive for a movable carrier for storage cabinets.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,131,011 to Rittenberry for a supporting device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,503 to Rennels for a waste compactor with foot actuated release mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,752 to Klay for a hinge assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,450 to Lee for a portable soap caddy assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,257 to Waters for an easel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,992 to Baermann for double-sided hinges.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,624 to Lee for a door for a refrigerator having rotatable pockets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,793 to Pan to a multi-functional display rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,296 B1 to Carney, Jr. for a photograph display system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,727 B2 to Torres for closet doors with integrated shelves.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,972 B2 to Cude for a tri-action hinge and latching mechanism for a door panel.
Publication No. US 2005/0183240 A1 to Watkins for an automatic lift and turn hinge and gate.
Publication No. US 2006/0191066 A1 to Johnson et al. for a shower door storage assembly. It issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,060,955 B2.
Publication No. US 2008/0230500 A1 of Johnson for hinge-mounted hanger systems. It issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,908,711 B2.
Publication No. US 2012/0001528 A1 of Ye for a computer. It issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,292,377 B2.
Publication No. US 2012/0060420 A1 of Johnson et al. for a shower door storage assembly. It is a divisional to U.S. Pat. No. 8,060,955 B2.
Yet, difficulties in storage remain. In particular, storage difficulties can be engendered by an over-abundance of items to be stored and/or large shelves that make placement and retrieval of smaller items, oftentimes among larger items, problematic.
It would be desirable to more effectively address storage problems, notably in the field of popular storage rack options such as open shelving for the home, garage or shop. It would be desirable, in particular, to address the under-capacities of open shelving units while avoiding problems in placement and retrieval of items, to include smaller items. It would be desirable to provide the art an alternative.